Get Wet
by theonewhoneversleeps
Summary: Buffy is about to go on spring break, but her mom has a surprise for her that she doesn't know about: a trip to the Caribbean. Little does Buffy know that she's about to spend a lot of time on a boat with the new kid at school who she can't stand. AH
1. Chapter 1

**You know the drill: I own nothing, Joss Whedon is the Master of the 'Verse**

**Please enjoy, review, do what you gotta do.**

*_Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* _"Argh!" Buffy Summers was eighteen, and a senior at Sunnydale High, and today was just another day in the many she was counting down until spring break, which was in one week. This Monday wasn't going to be any better than the others, she knew, but at least it was bringing her that closer to total relaxation with her friends in the warm California sun, instead of inside at school, taking tests and trying not to fall asleep in the too-stuffy classrooms.

She turned off her alarm clock, almost still mid-dream about a time just around the corner when she would get to sleep as long as she wanted. _Just one week. _With that thought she managed to get out of bed, relishing the sun shining through her window, promising some fun after school at least. With a critical eye she looked at her wardrobe. What should she wear to celebrate the beginning of the end of her long wait?

After almost twenty minutes of messing up her entire closet, she chose a yellow halter top sundress with a sweetheart neckline. It was adorable, perfect for a nice day like this. _Not to mention Riley will love it. _She had to smile—because Riley really would love it. He couldn't help but stare at her no matter what she was wearing. After being his girlfriend for six months, she felt sexy no matter what she had on.

With a lovey-dovey sigh, she couldn't help but remember how they had first met—or at least noticed each other.

_Buffy ran off the field after cheering on the Sunnydale High football team to a win, and she was feeling great. After all, why wouldn't she? She was beautiful, top of the cheerleader pyramid—quite literally—and she was well-liked throughout the high school. With a contented sigh, she flipped her hair back from her face and leaned against the bleachers. The entire team jogged past her to the locker rooms, some of them giving her a nod, or saying hi._

_All except one. Riley lingered at the back of the group, and watched as they left. With a little curiosity, Buffy eyed him, waiting for him to say something. Finally, when his teammates disappeared into the building, he faced her, and gave her a bashful sort of smile as he ran his fingers through his hair. It suddenly and unexpectedly occurred to Buffy that she might like to do that; she could all too easily imagine running her own fingers through his hair, maybe even while kissing him. _I mean, that's the only thing I _don't _have, right?_ she thought to herself. _A boyfriend.

_If Buffy was honest with herself right after talking to Riley this first time, she would have admitted that she didn't particularly like him, certainly not any more than the other guys on the teams that she cheered on, and she could already have any of them if she wanted. The only reason she thought Riley would make a good boyfriend was because she thought she needed one. Their relationship would simply end up proving that Buffy could easily lie to herself, and that Riley was an insufferable twat, among other things._

_So with the brief image in her mind of what could be with Riley, Buffy had smiled at him, and said, "Hey. You were really good today in the game."_

_And the rest, as they say, is history. Or it would be, if a bleached punk from London hadn't chosen Buffy's senior year to come to the United States and, as she would later put it, "totally screw up everything. Seriously."_

"Buffy!"

_Oh. Crap._ That was her mom, Joyce, yelling from downstairs, and with a glance at the clock on her bedside table, Buffy realized that she was late. Spending too much time on trying to find the perfect outfit had eaten up all her time. _No breakfast today._ With a sigh, she grabbed her bag for school, and ran down the stairs, careful not to trip in her high heeled sandals.

Waiting at the bottom of the stairs was her mother. "You know honey, it's not the greatest idea to get detention for being late one too many times, right before spring break." She smiled wearily at her beautiful daughter. Buffy smiled sweetly back.

"You know, you're right mom which is why I'm going to book it to school in the car—" seeing the look her mom was giving her, she amended, "at the legal speed limit, of course."

Joyce frowned slightly. "I'm not sure that's a good idea…you only just passed the test a few weeks ago, and before that you failed a few times. I know you don't like to hear it, but Buffy, is this really a good time to try driving when you're feeling agitated?"

"Yes!" With that final, irrational statement, she ran out the door, calling out behind her, "Bye Mom, see you later, love you!" to placate her mother.

Joyce just sighed again, silently praying that her daughter wouldn't end up crashing the car and hurting herself, as she was likely to do.

Happily, Buffy made it to school unhurt, but unfortunately two minutes before the bell rang. She parked the car closer to the front entrance than rules allowed, then pelted to her first class as fast as she could, bag swinging from her shoulder, occasionally half-tripping in her heels as she ran down the halls.

Her distraction at the thought of being late and possibly receiving detention made her completely ignore the dark figure who was lounging just around a corner, mere yards from the door of her classroom. In all her sunny glory, Buffy collided headlong into this dark figure. Her bag flew out of her hand, and papers went everywhere, along with what could have been the contents of a small beauty salon.

"What the…" was all the boy managed to get out. Buffy, meanwhile, was very angry, very fast.

"Oh my god, what do you think you're doing?" She was practically screeching, unable to suppress her annoyance. "I need to get to class!" Right then the bell rang, and she realized the halls were empty. "Crap! Thanks a lot!"

As she continued ranting, Buffy didn't notice that the barricade she had encountered was picking up her stuff, and had handed her the re-packed bag. She didn't bother with a thank you, she was so frustrated at facing an afternoon that was even two seconds longer than she was required to be in school. "Detention is going to be _so_ your fault if I get it. I don't even know who you are!" Buffy didn't consider herself one of the schools 'elite', like Cordelia Chase, or her group, and therefore didn't need to know everyone's identity in order to elevate them or make their lives misery, but she certainly thought she knew everyone there by face, if not by name. This guy was unrecognizable. Though certainly not unattractive."Ugh, it doesn't even matter. I'm late!"

"Aren't you Buffy Summers?" Buffy turned around from the storming off she was about to make when she heard what this random guy was asking her. _I don't know him, I'm pretty sure, and he knows my full name?_

"How do you know my name?"

"I'm Spike Pratt." He looked at her with a strange expression, kind of like he expected something. Like he expected her to…recognize him?

"Um, okay. Well, sorry, but I have to go." _What the hell. That's not at all helpful._ She was about to go into her classroom, when her frustration got the better of her.

"I might not know you, but I think you should know that you made me late." Her righteous sense of needing someone to take the blame was spewing words that if she was in a better mood, she wouldn't be saying. "So next time, just stay out of my way! Got it, British bleach boy?" Naturally she was referring to the ridiculous hair he sported, and the accent she had noticed when he spoke—it was kind of hard not to notice. He could never be mistaken for Californian, that was for sure. His accent kind of hit like a freight truck actually, if you weren't expecting it. _A sort of sexy freight truck._

"Buffy Summers?" A head poked out of the door of the chemistry class that she was supposed to be sitting in at this very moment. It was Jonathan, a kid she didn't know that well, but he seemed harmless enough. Until this moment, when he embarrassed her in front of the other thirty kids in their class.

"Oh sorry Buffy," he said when he saw Spike, "I didn't mean to interrupt you. Though don't you already have a boyfriend?" he shook his head, as if it didn't matter. "Sorry," he said again, "but Mr. Peters says if you don't come in and stop screaming at your 'new boyfriend'—his words, not mine!" he added when he saw her deadly glare, "he says that you'll get double detention. So you should come in. Now." He added the last word for a little unneeded emphasis.

With a last glare at Spike, she followed Jonathan's retreating head into the classroom, but not before she saw the smirk on Spike's lips, as if he had enjoyed hearing what Jonathan had to say, and was amused that now the whole school would be speculating if she was cheating on Riley.

The one thing Spike Pratt had succeeded in doing that morning, she decided, was cementing her opinion of him as a total jerk, and someone she was not going to be talk to ever again.

* * *

"…and then _Jonathan _came out and now everyone thinks I'm cheating on Riley!" Buffy finished with a heave for breath, and took a sip of her coke. It was lunchtime, and across the table from her, Willow had wide eyes.

"Okay, well, first of all, I never heard that rumor, so it's probably not as bad as you think," she said, hoping to calm Buffy down.

"Willow," Buffy said a skeptical look, "I'm the only person who tells you gossip. If I didn't tell you, you probably wouldn't know about it."

"Hey!" Xander cut in. "I tell her stuff too."

Buffy turned her skeptical look to him. "Has there ever been a time when you told her something I hadn't already?"

Before the conversation could go any further, Buffy felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, and Riley sat next to her, planting a kiss on her lips as he did so. Buffy smiled at him like Willow and Xander had simply disappeared off the planet, and they were the only two left sitting in the cafeteria. "Hey," he said, in his usual semi-monosyllabic way.

"Hey," Buffy replied. "You haven't been hearing anything…weird about me, right?"

Riley frowned. "No, why?"

She laughed as if it didn't matter. "No reason! There's just this new guy, and he was annoying me today. There might be some weird rumors going around, but you can ignore them, okay?"

He shrugged and squeezed her side. "Alright."

Buffy smiled at him again and went back to eating her sandwich and talking to her friends. She managed to totally forget about that morning, and was about to leave to get her stuff for class, when she heard someone clear their throat behind her, and saw Willow's eyes go wide.

"Buffy Summers?"

She turned around and glared, already knowing who it was. "I don't know you. Seriously. So please go away."

Riley put his two cents in as well. "Stay away from my girlfriend, you freak."

Spike had looked like he was about to say something, but after what Riley said, he settled for a derisive smirk, and put his hands up. "Alrigh' love, I'll leave you alone. For as long as possible, at least."

He walked away, leaving the four of them slightly confused. "Are you sure you don't know him, Buffy?" Willow asked tentatively. "I mean, he seemed kind of adamant."

Buffy shook her head. "Willow, I swear. I never saw him in my life until this morning. I've got no idea what he's got to say to me, but I don't want to hear it. He's kind of being creepy. If he comes up to me again, I'm going to tell him to stop stalking me or whatever."


	2. Chapter 2

**I was really overwhelmed with how many people read this fic, and it makes me really happy. As an apology for taking so long to post, I will be putting up two chapters of Get Wet today (though there will be maybe a three hour gap between them), and the first one is extra long. Enjoy, and review if you're up for it!**

"Mom! I'm home!" Buffy called as she walked in the front door. Joyce appeared from inside the kitchen with a wide smile on her face.

"I'm so glad," she said, and led Buffy over to the couch. Both of them sat down.

Buffy laughed. "Wow, Mom, didn't know you were so worried about me driving. Believe me, it's not so dire as you seem to think it is."

Joyce shook her head. "No, it's not that. I do get a little concerned when you drive, but that's not why I'm so eager to talk to you." She really did seem excited, in a way that Buffy hadn't seen in a while. She was almost like a child, practically bouncing where she sat next to Buffy.

"What's up? You're so happy. I haven't seen you like this is a while." That was true. Joyce had run into a few problems with the gallery that she owned and ran. Her right hand woman, an assistant that had taken on half of the work when Joyce was overwhelmed and swamped, had just quit a few weeks before. Alone, Joyce couldn't handle everything. She needed at least one other main assistant to keep it going and still manage to bring pieces back from other locations. All the stress had been really detrimental to her happiness, but seeing her like this made Buffy feel hopeful.

"It's been so hard not to tell you the past week, I've been almost unable to keep from saying anything." She grinned in a very un-Joyce-like way. The energy was infectious, and Buffy found herself dying to find out what her mom had been holding back.

"So what's up? Did you get a surprise for me?" she asked, thinking she might be getting a new bathing suit, or maybe a day at the spa. Though she wasn't sure that Joyce would get so excited about either of those things.

"It's something for both of us. I know you were looking forward to spending spring break with your friends, but I made a sort of last-minute decision and—"

"We're going somewhere!" Buffy shrieked excitedly. She immediately started guessing. "Baja? New York? Florida?"

Joyce was happy that her daughter was so thrilled without having even heard where they were headed—and it was better than any of the places she'd guessed. "We're going to stay on a yacht—" at that word Buffy's eyes widened—"in the Caribbean!"

Buffy's scream of happiness was almost painful, and yet it was music to Joyce's ears. "Ohmigod are you serious!" she asked in disbelievingly, and hugged her mom. "Just you and me? This is going to be so much—"

"Actually…" Joyce cut her off warily. "We're going to be joined by a couple of other people."

Buffy did not like the sound of that. Not one bit. "Who? Do I know them?"

"I'm not sure," Joyce said in what could have almost been a teasing manner. "It's possible you met one of them at school today."

Buffy, nonplussed, just sort of wrinkled her nose up confusedly. "Um, not sure what you're…" then it dawned on her like a freight train. "No," she said slowly, giving away her recognition, and growing horror. "Nooo…."

"Oh, so you did meet?" This fact seemed to give Joyce immeasurable delight. "You see, I have a friend from college, Rupert, and he just moved to Sunnydale. It was really unexpected—he got specially invited to come here for the next four years to set up an exhibition of rare Peruvian artifacts owned by a wealthy collector. Of course it's going to take a while to sort them all, catalogue, and then curate the collection, but it's what he loves best. And as it just so happens, he is also an amazing author. He made enough money on his first two books that he now owns a yacht, anchored in the Caribbean, and ready for us to put to good use!"

Buffy was still in shock. Maybe the next words that came out of her mom's mouth wouldn't confirm what she thought to be true. Maybe she was about to find her salvation. Maybe…

"And best of all, he has a nephew your age, who is attending Sunnydale!"

…her life was about to become a living hell.

"And um, what does his nephew look like?"

Joyce frowned. "Well, Rupert said he's going through some sort of phase, but apparently he has bleached hair and likes to go by the name of 'Spike,' though his real name is William."

"Dear god." Every last milliliter of Buffy's ecstasy at the thought of a week floating through sapphire-blue waters had been erased by the thought of every second of it including Spike. "What is my life?"

"Buffy Ann Summers!" Joyce's original happiness was rapidly disintegrating. She couldn't believe that her daughter could already have a bad attitude about this. When she had come up with the idea to take a yacht out into the Caribbean with one of their family friends—albeit ones Buffy had never met—, she had thought Buffy would be totally thrilled. What teenage girl wouldn't want to spend two weeks on spring break in paradise, doing everything she wanted to—tanning, listening to music, swimming, and generally ignoring her mother. What could be better? And Joyce would have fun as well—she hadn't seen Rupert in ages, and it would be wonderful to see an old friend after so long.

And concerning Spike: well, to be truthful, Joyce had been a little wary at first, but only because she thought Buffy might like him a little too much! She herself had gone through a long-buried phase of being attracted to 'bad boys' and the like, and Joyce had to admit, that it was a mild worry of hers that Buffy would fall all too easily for who William had become. She had never met the boy, but from Giles' descriptions, and after seeing a few pictures, she was on the verge of delicately warning her daughter.

"Mom, is there any way we can cancel this?" Buffy asked desperately. "Please!"

"No! I don't know what your problem is, or what William could have possibly done in the short time you've known him to make you act like this, but we are going. You will enjoy it."

From Buffy's point of view, that sounded like an order.

After giving her mom a non-commital noise of assent that she would have a good attitude about their vacation, Buffy went upstairs to her room. With a heavy sigh, restraining a frustrated scream and instead settling for a groan, Buffy flopped onto her bed bonelessly, and picked up the phone to call Willow.

Her best friend answered on the second ring. Buffy smiled—she could always count on her red-haired cohort. "Hey Wills. You will not believe what my mom just told me."

But before she could unload the whole saga, Willow interrupted her. "Buffy, I got the sitch on Spike, and it's crazy!"

Well, if there was only one thing that would stop Buffy from bursting out with what she wanted to tell _someone,_ anyone, then it was counter information. Anything about Spike was of interest to her.

Willow didn't wait for her to respond. "He just moved here with his uncle. His parents are still in England, but the uncle is his legal guardian or something. And they've got tons of money! Like, obscene, ridiculous, aneurysm-inducing amounts of money."

That pretty much fit with what Buffy had already learned, and she continued with spilling the beans to Willow. "That makes sense, because guess what my mom just dumped on me? We're going to the Caribbean for spring break,"—she heard a gasp of excitement from Willow—,"and I'm going to be stuck on a yacht with that piece of freaky punk for a whole week!"

There was a small silence while Willow processed all this information. Buffy could practically hear the gears turning in her head. Then she voiced her thoughts out loud. "Okay…" she started slowly, "Caribbean equals good."

"Definitely," Buffy answered. That was true, she was at least a little bit looking forward to going somewhere so exotic, with swimming and sun.

"And," Willow continued, "yacht equals extra good. But Spike, to you, equals bad. Very bad."

"Exactly," Buffy said, and sighed, long and exhaustedly.

"Do you maybe think…" Willow trailed off as if she wasn't sure she should say it. "Well, maybe Spike might be kind of fun?"

Buffy didn't know how to answer that. Her automatic answer was something along the lines of "HELL NO," but she paused and thought it over a little. Spike was undeniably attractive, she could give him that much, and maybe his insufferable personality could be ignored. If she had her way, she would be relaxing anyway, not spending time with him. Therefore, it should be easy to pretend that he wasn't even around! Perfect.

"You know, Willow, you're probably right. Not that he'll be fun, but I guess it's possible that he can be easily ignored. As long as he doesn't do something else to make me hate him even more, we'll be good."

She should have known that was the wrong thing to say.

* * *

Tuesday morning, Buffy managed to be late again. It was something of a normal occurrence for her; she often slept through her alarm, or just couldn't get out of bed because she was so tired, and yesterday she had stayed up too late talking to Willow on the phone about what she would have to pack for the Caribbean, and whether she would need to go shopping.

She stumbled into school in practically the same fashion as the day before, knowing that she really was going to get detention this time, and not just a harsh warning, so it didn't make her morning any better when she saw the bleach boy himself, leaning against the wall just like he had been the day before. This time she managed not to run straight into him, but that didn't make her any less angry to see him.

Spike smirked when he saw her. He knew what game she was playing now—she didn't want to be seen with him. Fine by him, but he still wanted to see her. Since it was clear that the only way he could do that was out of class, he had waited outside her first class, guessing rightly that she would be late. _Probably busy doing her hair,_ he thought to himself. _Make it all shiny and bouncy. _Unbidden, the thought flickered through his mind that he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to make that hair bounce while he was doing something to make her writhe.

Whoa. He needed to slow down there. _She might be a typical SoCal girl, but she's bloody gorgeous. _Without trying, he found the image of Dru, his ex, floating to the forefront of his mind, and he couldn't help but compare the two girls. They were as opposite as could be, and that gave him some angry satisfied pleasure. He wanted to get as far away from Dru as he could, physically and mentally. That was the only reason he had agreed to leave England. If he hadn't, dear old Uncle Rupert would have found himself needing to send out a search party for his nephew.

Seeing Buffy, he couldn't help that smirk that appeared on his face. She was right on time for him, though not by the school's standards. "Morning, luv."

"Ugh. Spike. So I found out about our lovely vacation together. Be seeing you." Buffy breezed past him, and into her classroom without another word, effectively shutting down any hope of him talking to her properly. He scowled at her retreating back.

However, unfortunately for Buffy, she was so busy going into class and getting a detention slip for after school, that she missed seeing another teacher giving Spike an identical slip.

* * *

The final bell rang, and Buffy wearily got up from her seat, knowing that she had to enjoy another hour in school, sitting in the one room next to the office that was designated for detention. With a resigned smile, she waved goodbye to Willow and Xander, and went into the detention room, sitting down at the nearest seat. Looking out the window the room she decided that was the worst part of this whole experience: anyone walking by could just look in and see that she, Buffy Summers, was in detention. They could laugh at her, and she would still be stuck in this tiny room, alone.

Her assignment was to write an essay about ten ways being late affected her schooling negatively. She pulled out a sheet of paper and a pencil, and was about to _try_ to begin, though she doubted she was going to get very far, when the door to the room opened, and someone else joined the seat right next to her.

Spike.

"Oh my god," Buffy said rudely. She knew it was rude, but she did it anyway, and added in an eye roll.

Spike wasted no time in sitting down and making himself comfortable, propping his feet up on the desk and leaning back as if he could stay there for days and it wouldn't make a difference to him. "Hello, Buffy."

The way he said her name made her want to slap him. Or something. Something violent and unexpected, that would leave him speechless and unable to annoy her. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked petulantly.

"Thought you might get bored and want some company. I seem to be free, seeing as I'm new in town and I've got no friends." He added the last part with a self-mocking smile, as if he was not completely joking.

Strangely, the way he seemed to be almost serious made Buffy drop some of the animosity that she had felt towards him. Even so, the words that came out of her mouth were utterly ridiculous. "Why don't you come to the Bronze tonight? With me and Willow and Xander?"

As soon as she said it, she thought she might melt into the ground with embarrassment. What was she thinking? She didn't like Spike. He was going to ruin her vacation, and he had basically given her detention!

Spike looked at her with his head tilted, as if he could see straight into her head, and was observing the tangle of thoughts in her brain about whether this was a good idea or not. Then he nodded, and said, "Sure pet, why not. Sounds fun."

Actually, this didn't sound like fun to Spike. Bearable, possibly, but going to the local club and being surrounded by the peppy California crowd was not his cup of tea. He preferred the underground shows he used to attend in London to any club, but Sunnnydale didn't seem like the place to have that kind of scene. When he got the time, he had planned to go into L.A. and see what was going on there, but for now he didn't have the time or a car.

The only real appeal of going to the Bronze would be Buffy. She would be there, and she interested him. He wanted to know more before he jumped on a boat with her for a week.

"So," Buffy started, hoping that they weren't going to lapse into awkward silence, "how did you know what I looked like? You recognized me when you came here."

"Yeah…" he ran his hand through his hair, making a few bits of it come un-gelled. "My uncle showed me a picture of you, thought it would be good for me to 'know' at least one person on the first day here. Obviously didn't work out exactly how he planned."

Buffy almost felt a little bad about that. "You have to admit, randomly going up to someone and not explaining right away how you know them is enough to wig anyone out a little."

They continued to talk for a while, and before Buffy knew it, an hour had passed, and her essay was nowhere near finished. She didn't mind much, she could just bullshit it at a later date.

Right on the dot, at four, there was a tap on the big glass window that let them see into the hall outside. With a start both Spike and Buffy looked up to see Riley, gesturing to Buffy to come outside. He had told her he would pick her up, but she had completely forgotten. Riley looked a little confused, and definitely not happy to see his girlfriend talking to Spike.

"I guess I'll see you tonight then?" Buffy asked Spike as she opened the door to her freedom.

He raised a hand in farewell, pulling out a cigarette at the same time. Buffy refrained from commenting that he wasn't allowed to do that. "I'll see you around," he said, and lit the cigarette.

Buffy nodded, and left with her boyfriend. The moment they got out of the school, Riley started asking questions.

"What was he doing there with you?"

Buffy rolled her eyes much in the same manner she had done to Spike. "He had detention as well. What, did you think he just hung out in there for fun?"

Riley didn't like it when she got sarcastic with him, and she knew it. Seeing the dark look on his face that meant he was restraining himself from snapping back at her, she stepped in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders. "It's perfectly fine, baby. He's just living with a close friend of my mom. I'm basically obligated to be nice to him, right?"

Placated, Riley nodded, and they kissed.

When they broke apart, Buffy gave him the last bit of news. "Oh, and he's coming to the Bronze with us tonight."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry, I said it would be a three hour gap and it was a lot longer. I got side-tracked by a dinner party. But here is chapter three, and I am asking you to please stick with this fic, because the good stuff is coming soon! I had to get the setting right first, but soon we'll be seeing some good old Spuffy lovin'. Reviews make me write faster!**

To put it mildly, Riley had not been happy about Spike coming with them. She had already called Willow and Xander as well, to tell them that they would have an extra friend coming along with them. Okay, she hadn't used the actual word 'friend,' but they got the idea. Both of them seemed happy that she was giving the new guy a second chance—the duo were known as the top geek and nerd of the school, so they were used to not getting second chances from anybody, and they were happy Buffy had gone back on her first back reaction.

Riley picked Buffy up at nine. Joyce had expressed her opinion that this was a little late to be going out on a school night, but Buffy had pointed out they weren't doing anything important in school this week, and she could afford to be a little tired the next day. Of course, she hadn't told her mom about the detention; if she had, Joyce's answer to whether Buffy could go out that night or not would have been a most resounding no.

The whole way to the Bronze, Buffy and Riley barely talked._ I guess it's better than fighting,_ Buffy thought, but she was still annoyed. It wasn't her fault that Riley had taken an even stronger disliking to Spike than she first had. After she had told him that Spike was coming along to the Bronze, Riley had gone off on a tirade about how Spike was a punk freak who probably did heroin. When Buffy had asked him how he got to that conclusion so easily, Riley had simply kept on speculating about what kind of unsavory person Spike was.

All of this hadn't pleased Buffy very much. She couldn't imagine how Riley was going to react when she told him that she was spending a week on a boat with Spike, accompanied by only two adults. From what other small pieces of information she had managed to pry from her mom, it sounded like she and Spike would be left to their own devices on the boat, and not expected to participate in any cultural exploration that Joyce and Rupert would embark on.

Finally the slightly uncomfortable silence ended when they arrived at the Bronze. It was packed for a Tuesday night—it seemed like Buffy wasn't the only one who didn't school was a priority this week. Waiting outside for them were Willow and Xander, but no Spike.

"Hey Buffster, Riley," Xander greeted them as they walked up to the door. "Ready for a night of fun?"

Buffy smiled. She could always count on Xander to lighten the mood, even when he didn't know he was doing it. "Yeah, super ready. All that boring detention today, and I'm about to scream if I don't get to have at least a little fun."

Grabbing Riley's hand, but barely giving him a backward glance, she led them all into the club, and to their favorite table. "So, Willow, Xander, have you seen Spike?"

Both of them shook their heads. "I'm sure he'll be here. We'll see him when he does," Willow answered.

Buffy nodded, hoping her friend was right. She wanted Spike to know that she had forgiven him. He might not have entirely redeemed himself, but the next week was going to be a lot more fun if they could get along.

Riley went to get drinks, and still saying hardly two words to his girlfriend, and the rest of them went to dance. Despite her frustration with Riley about his reticence, Buffy managed to have a good time. She managed to get Willow to try some sexy-dancing, much to the red head's mortification, and Xander jokingly slow-danced with both of them, though Willow blushed when he twirled her and swung her slowly to the song.

Buffy had almost forgotten that they were supposed to be a quintet, and not a trio, when she glimpsed a flash of bleached hair at the door, and Spike walked in, somehow keeping up his swagger while he scanned the club for her. She smiled, and waved at him. He saw her, and walked over.

"Evening love."

"Hey Spike."

There was a silence that just kept on going. _Awkward. Oh my god, why didn't I see that this would be awkward._ Buffy was rapidly beginning to regret her spur of the moment decision to invite Spike along. That explained why her brain decided—without any input from her better instincts—to take control of her mouth again, and say, "Do you want to dance?"

To her surprise, Spike nodded. As her luck—or lack thereof—would have it, a slow song had just started.

At first they kept well away from each other, and avoided each other's eyes. Buffy's brain felt like it was trying to tell her way too many things at once, and not giving her time to take a breath and relax. Some rational part was telling her that it was stupid to be doing this in the first place, but another part was saying that she should enjoy it. Spike was hot, and she was dancing with him. That part was telling her to live a little, and pretend that she was dancing with a close guy friend, the way she would with Xander, and not in a way that made her feel guilty that her boyfriend was sitting at a table in this same club.

However, gradually both of them started relaxing. Spike couldn't help but stroke Buffy's hair lightly when she laid her head casually on his shoulder. He couldn't deny that she was beautiful, and having her here in his arms felt strangely right. He hadn't been this close to a girl for a long time—too long, since he had isolated himself after Dru, and not wanted anything to do with anyone.

Buffy's body might have visibly relaxed, but her mind was still racing. _Why is it so easy with him all of a sudden? Like we've been friends forever. We're not even what I would call friends now, but still…_

As the closing chords of the song played, Buffy pulled away and looked straight into Spike's eyes. If she knew him better she might say he looked…confused. As if he didn't know what to think of what they had felt humming between them for the last three minutes. He searched her eyes as well, and saw only that they were curiously probing his thoughts.

And this was the one moment in Buffy's life that convinced her some things were unavoidable. She'd never believed anyone before who said they had been acted upon by inexorable forces that they couldn't control, but standing on the floor of the Bronze, Spike's arms loosely clasped around her, and with Riley sitting by, she felt something pull her towards Spike, a feeling she'd never had before with anyone else.

Spike had let go of his mind entirely. If he was in control of a fraction of his brain, he would have managed to pull away, and stop himself from doing this. As it was, he had forgotten everything, and before he knew it, he was leaning in to touch Buffy's lips with his own. They met briefly, barely touching, softer than feathers brushing across skin, and Buffy shuddered with an exhale. They hovered there, a few millimeters apart, met once more, and then both of them realized what they were doing.

Buffy took a stumbling step backwards. And gave a frightened glance to the table where Riley sat. With horror, her eyes widened when they met his. Angrily, he got up and strode across the floor to where Spike was standing, frozen on the spot.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with my girlfriend?" Riley asked him, raising a fist in warning. Buffy could already see where this was going, and she didn't want them to stick around long enough for Spike to get his face bashed in.

"Riley, let's go," she said, and grabbed his hand. Riley immediately pulled away.

"Don't even…god, just don't touch me," he said, but followed her, and they left the Bronze, with Spike standing on the dance floor feeling very confused, and a little hopeful.

The second they were in the car, and driving to Buffy's house, Riley started yelling.

"What the hell were you doing with him?" he asked angrily. Buffy had never seen him like this. He looked so mad that she worried he wasn't in a good state to be driving.

"I don't know…" she knew it wasn't a good enough answer. "I'm sorry, it got out of hand, I wasn't thinking."

"Damn right you weren't thinking! One minute you're dancing with him, which is bad enough, and the next you're kissing him. What the fuck is that about Buffy, you wouldn't even have sex with me until four months after we met, would you have let him give it to you tonight if I hadn't interrupted?"

Buffy froze. She had never heard Riley talk like this, and she really didn't like it. Thankfully they'd reached her house.

"I might have done something wrong tonight, but you just did as well." She opened the door and got out. "I don't know what to say to you."

"Good," Riley replied derisively, "because I do. As of now, we are no longer together. I don't want a slut for a girlfriend."

Before she could reply, he had driven away.


End file.
